Himanta seeks West Bengal’s cooperation in tackling illegal immigration from Bangladesh

GUWAHATI — Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the states bordering Bangladesh must coordinate among themselves and with the BSF to foil infiltration bids in the wake of the political turmoil in the neighbouring country.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the Assam and Tripura governments are working together with the border force already but it will be a “well-orchestrated effort” only if West Bengal also starts identifying the infiltrators as those sent back from these two northeastern states may re-enter through it.

“In the last two months, almost every day we are capturing foreigners in our state. My feeling is that due to the porous boundary, in spite of best efforts of the BSF, some people are coming into India illegally,” he said.

Sarma stressed that state governments have to identify illegal migrants proactively, and Assam and Tripura are already doing so.

Despite the efforts, some infiltrators have managed to enter and reach other states of India as is evident from the arrest of some illegal migrants who had gone back to Bangladesh to bring in more people from their country, he said.

The CM said 138 infiltrators were identified and sent back from Assam in the last two months by the state police in operations carried out independently and jointly with the BSF.

He claimed that those trying to enter India illegally were Rohingyas and not Hindus.

“The perception about Hindu-Bengalis trying to come is wrong. The Rohingyas are trying to enter. The state governments must remain vigilant and work closely with the BSF,” he said.

“Assam and Tripura are already doing it. If the Bengal government also starts identifying the people, it will be a well-orchestrated effort,” he said.

Maintaining that all bordering states must support BSF aggressively, Sarma said otherwise the situation may deteriorate.

“We are least bothered about the religion of the infiltrators, our focus is if someone comes illegally, they must be pushed back,” he said.

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